The Story of Tata's Epic Journey from Trucks to Aria

. This is a discussion on The Story of Tata's Epic Journey from Trucks to Aria within Indian Auto Sector. Part of The Auto Talk category; Well we shall soon see if its all hype ,some some hype or actually breathtaking stuff from Tata
Like most ...

Well we shall soon see if its all hype ,some some hype or actually breathtaking stuff from Tata
Like most of TAI'ians i hope for the latter
However, i think past experience makes me a little 'under' exited-dont want to be let down! common Mr Slym, we are waiting for you to stand and deliver!

Storme should be considered a new vehicle because its all new platform. This is not the case of Falcon..!! Look at RR. Styling is more evolution than revolution. So one can justify the overall styling of Storme.

Look at another case. Its interesting. Freelander and Evoque. Evoque is based on Freelander platform although mostly re-engineered. What about the styling ?? This is what was expected from the Falcons by all of us and the same was offered by TML as well,as "all new design language". But at the end I'm

Reading/listening to interviews with TML bosses on TV and print give you the impression a lot of thought about the Storme, Aria, Manza..before they were launched-design,marketing..
What went wrong?well in the words of Amartya Sen we the TAI'ens and every Indian with motoring ideas have given plenty of reasons(often most contradictory) which can fill plenty of large books!
If there was nothing very wrong with the products to start with then (but all the surrounding activities) then 'new' products wont change sales!
If it is not v good products,then well falcon,movus may actually get sales to 'move'.
Competition has upped its game and reduced prices so the VFM tag ,once TMLs USP (more car per car etc) will be vv hard to get back
All in all I really hope, few good reliable products at affordable prices with superb back up service is what TML has in store for us for the future.

Hurt by the prolonged slowdown in the auto industry, Tata Motors will offer a voluntary retirement scheme to a section of employees as it looks at rationalizing costs.

The company, which on Wednesday announced a truck racing series for the first time in India to be held in March, also said it is investing Rs 3,000 crore on product development in FY14.

"The industry as well as India is going through a rather protracted downturn. Therefore, there are lots of things out there to enable us, ensure our structure is suitable. Voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) allows those people to move on with our support," Tata Motors Managing Director Karl Slym told reporters.

Asked how many employees would be offered the VRS, he said it would be a "very minor" number.

In December, domestic car sales declined 4.52% from a year earlier to 1,32,561 units. Tata Motors' sales fell about 42% to 6,537 units last month.

Total sales of commercial vehicles were down 25.53% to 46,757 units. The company's commercial vehicle sales dropped 45.83% to 25,738 units.

Hit by a prolonged slump in sales, Hinduja flagship firm Ashok Leyand had offered a VRS for its executives during the third quarter. It spent Rs 43.58 crore on settlements for those who accepted the offer up to December 31.

On plans for product development, Slym said the company is spending Rs 3,000 crore in FY14. This is a part of the company's Plan 20-20 and will span commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, he added.

Stating that the company plans to make newer technologies available, he said the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship will serve as a "laboratory" for developing new products.

"We have worked on this for eight months...we want to use this platform, not only for us but also for our partners to use the platform to develop new technologies for our trucking business," he said.

The race will be held on March 22-23 at the Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida.

Slym said a revival in the commercial vehicles market is unlikely in the next 12 months.

The CV market is 50% of what it was two years ago and this is the longest downturn the industry has witnessed, he added.

Well, I still feel it is good or rather ethical way of downsizing the work force. Its not like American companies "Hire and fire"; Today you have the job and dont know by evening you will still have it or not.
The Firing were initially called layoffs and it reflected the inability of the company to generate revenue, these days its called "pruning", removing the unwanted/misfit employees.

Exhorting employees of Tata Motors to 'rise to the occasion' in a challenging environment, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry today said the company needs to strengthen "capability in bringing winning products to the market in a fast and cost-effective manner."

According to sources, Mistry in his annual address to employees of Tata Motors, including overseas subsidiaries, also said "every function, right from design, purchasing, manufacturing to sales, will need to work hard and seamlessly to help us bounce back strongly."

he company is a global leaders in automotive lighting systems for passenger vehicles. Varroc acquired Visteon (formerly a division of Ford) in 2012. In addition to 21 manufacturing plants across major auto hubs in India, Varroc has a global manufacturing foot-print in Mexico, China and the Czech Republic. The group services Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Tesla, GM, Volkswagen, Bentley and Nissan in the global market and, Bajaj, Honda, Yamaha, Hero, Royal Enfield, Mahindra and Tata Motors in India.

Indica was the most successful model for Tata Motors. THere was a golden age when Indica was ruling. Even till date with the launch of CR4 powered engines, i still see so many indicas being purchased. This model was never a failure in terms of number game. Maybe this is the reason why TM is still not discontinuing Indica and will not discontinue it.

Renowned automotive designer and engineer Gordon Murray was in town recently, and our sister publication Autocar Professional got a chance to sit down with him and talk about a number of things. One of these was India’s engineering capabilities, and Murray was quick to name Tata Motors as a company that’s impressed him with its work over the last decade.

Indica was the most successful model for Tata Motors. THere was a golden age when Indica was ruling. Even till date with the launch of CR4 powered engines, i still see so many indicas being purchased. This model was never a failure in terms of number game. Maybe this is the reason why TM is still not discontinuing Indica and will not discontinue it.

In my city the old tdi version (LS) sells lot than CR-4, slowly i am seeing Vistas replacing the V2s.

Indica was the most successful model for Tata Motors. THere was a golden age when Indica was ruling. Even till date with the launch of CR4 powered engines, i still see so many indicas being purchased. This model was never a failure in terms of number game. Maybe this is the reason why TM is still not discontinuing Indica and will not discontinue it.

+1
7 years of joyful ride, and still puts a smile every-time I drive it.

Recently got a friend to clean the nozzles of the engine of my Vista TDI and now the power and mileage (20k/l) on highway are back
Sadly though had a chance to see how the oil and fuel filters which were supposedly changed a few 1000k earlier had actually not been done-so again bitter sweet-lovely car, super ride but awful ASS
Xover-apart from the "horizonnext' marketing how serious is TML on the actual ASS process-any insider info?

The Tata Group’s chairman Cyrus Mistry has called for Tata Motors to enhance their “capability in bringing winning products to the market in a fast and cost-effective manner.”

In a PTI report on the Economic Times, Mistry is quoted as saying that every function, right from purchasing to manufacturing to sales will need to work hard for the iconic brand to bounce back in the market. He also called on the employees of the company to instituionalise the new product development process.

Mistry also described that two functions, namely a focus on quality and customer experience, are of utmost importance.

The 2013-14 fiscal saw one of the worst years for Tata Motors, with sales of both passenger cars and commercial vehicles dropping by huge levels. Overall, the company sold 5,66,695 units, registering a drop in sales of around 30 percent compared to the previous fiscal.

Tata Motors has a couple of product launches lined up for 2014, with the Tata Zest in the compact sedan market and the Tata Bolt in the hatchback segment. The company had also recently unveiled its new Revtron engine which would be used on these cars.

In order to combat massive traffic jams outside Metro stations caused by autorickshaws, cycle rickshaws and e-rickshaws, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will soon press into service 400 new feeder buses.The DMRC hopes the buses will help commuters with last-mile travel across 80 existing Metro stations in Delhi. Feeder buses ply on a number of approved routes, each one not exceeding 10 kilometres.
According to DMRC sources, Tata Motors has sealed the deal with DMRC and the vehicle manufacturing giant has already delivered the Tata Marcopolo Starbus Ultra 25-seater minibuses.